TAUNTON — The City Council unanimously approved contract adjustments for nonunion personnel on Tuesday night, increasing the salaries and hours worked for nine employees, most of whom are department heads.

The Taunton Law Department received new contracts, with extended hours and an $18,900 increase to City Solicitor Jason Buffington’s annual salary, providing him a new yearly salary of $124,900. Instead of working 32.5 hours a week, the restructured contract gives him a 40-hour workweek.

“The biggest raise is for the law department,” City Councilor Don Cleary said. “There’s not anyone in the city who has turned around more. It’s a very productive department.”

The City Council justified the increases because the Law Department has been doing much more legal work in-house, with a significant increase in workload. During Mayor Thomas Hoye Jr.’s administration, the Law Department has gone after so-called problem properties, which have turned into eyesores or safety hazards, including the Star Theater.

The council also compared the salary for the City Solicitor to others in Fall River ($120,000), Boston ($150,000) and Methuen ($115,972).

Assistant City Solicitor Dan de Abreu also was given a contract calling for a 40-hour week instead of 32.5 hours, increasing his contract by $20,200 annually for a new total of $89,900 per year.

“The former salary for this position was seriously underpaid and significantly undervalued the work performed,” said a document explaining the increases that was shared by the City Council.

The contract of the confidential legal assistant position in the Law Department actually went down by $7,912 after a restructuring of the way the department does business, after the retirement of the former legal assistant, the document said.

Next Tuesday, the City Council will hold a full budget presentation with Hoye for fiscal 2015.

Also during the meeting on Tuesday, the City Council approved the distribution of a flyer that discusses a switch to “single-stream recycling” in July, which will allow residents to throw away recyclables all together, without separating paper, plastic and other materials.

The city is under contract with WeCare Organics to handle recycling under the new single-stream system, which provides the city with 30 percent profit on all recyclables taken in.

Also, 20 sites in the city that already have public trash bins will get recycling barrels beside them soon, said Councilor David Pottier.

“We are trying to boost our recycling this summer,” Pottier said. “We make money on it. It costs less to dispose of then trash and it’s good for the environment. It’s a win-win.”

The City Council also approved the promotion of Giuseppe Grasso to the rank of lieutenant in the Taunton Fire Department on Tuesday night, after he served the last seven years as a Taunton firefighter.